Insulated wire.



No. 806,575. PAT'ENTBD Dnc. 5,1905.

G. H.' RUPLEY.

INSULATED WIRE.. dA PPLILATION FILED JAN. 15, 1904.

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-PATENTED DEG. 5, l1905.

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APPLNATION FILED JAN.15, 1904.

' pectady, in .the county ofy Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and alone or in combination with insulating gums IO. 806.575. *l Y Original application flied Decemberl, 1902, `Serial No. 135,372. Divided and this application led January l5, 1904) Serial No. 189,144. l I 1 L 1 UNITED sirArEs GEORGE H. RUPLEY, OE s OHENEoTADY, NEvv YORK, AssiGNOR To GEN- 1 PATENT OEEIOE. .xv

ERAL ELEOTEIO COMPANY, vA OORPOEATION OE NEW YORK;

lNsuLATED WIRE'.

. To all whom tima/y concern: Y Y

Be it known that I, GEORGE H'. RUPLEY, a-

citizen of the United States, residing at Schenuseful Improvements' in Insulated Wires, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to providean finsulated electric wire the insulating-cover-- ing of which may withstand a high degree ofl heat and may be satisfactory in insulation and; f cheap to manufacture. Wires or conductors have heretofore been insulated by covering them with a Winding or braiding of fiber, such as cotton, jute, or silk,

orf-compounds. Cotton and silk wound wires require the employment of expensive machinery vand the process is a comparatively slow one, and they do not, moreover, withstand 'a` high degree of heat, nor do they maintain the insulation -if subjected tothe iniiuence of wa- 1 ter or damp air. Conductors coated with liber room is not a factor of importance.

- have also been coated with collodion or other Wires cellulose com-pounds with good results, but

are expensive to manufacture and do notfo'r" the most partfwithstand as high a temperature `as is. desirable.

My present invention has for its object the manufacture of a conductor having an insu-A lating skin or lm which occupies a small amount of room, which is tough and iiexible and will not crack under iiexure of the conductor, which will withstand comparatively high temperatures-such at least as are commonly met with in the operation of electrical apparatus-which will have good insulating l properties, and which will, inally,f.becheap to manufacture. A

My present invention is based upon the discovery thata hard and more orless tough and elastic rcsiduum of good insulating property .Y maybe obtained from vegetable oils by distillation, with or without the presence ofoxye gen, myk process being distinguished fromall d Specoation of Letters Patent.

Patented Dee. 5, 1905.

other'processes wherein vegetable oil is'proposed as an insulation for electrical conductors by the fact that a supply OfoXygen-is not necessary.

The present applicationis limited as to the scope of its claims'to the product vof my improved process, the process itself beingcovered in the parent application Serial No.

135,372,51ed December 16, 1902, ef whieh this is adivision.

In the accompanying drawings is shown an apparatus adapted to carry out my improvements. l

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view .show-ing the heating arrangements, and Fig. 2 shows the relation of the bath to the heater.l

I carry out the invention by providing on the wire a smooth, dense, rmly-adherent, tough, iiexible, glossy black coating of a residuum of an oil. I prefer to operate with a specially-treated -linseed-oil, though my invention comprehends any oil which may be subjected toa process ofdistillation and will leave behind/"an vinsulating residuum. This includes allxed and essential oils; Abut the one which I have found most satisfactory in practice is linseed-oil, though cottonseed-oil and even corn-oil may be and have been employed successfully. v

In operating with linseed-oil I mix a suitable quantity,` according to the bulk of product required, of raw linseed-oil with two per cent. of oXid of zinc and litharge each andl subject them to protracted boiling. Materials of this kind have been heretofore added to oils; but theldistinction of my process over those commonly employed consists in amore prolonged heating, producing not only saponiiication, but a partial distillation, which permits the subsequent hardening of the coated wire to be more easily and quickly elfected,

and the more complete the distillation of the lighter hydrocarbons or carbohydrates 'at this stage of the process the greater is the speed of hardening on the wire. mass toa temperature of about 550O to 600O Fahrenheit, continuing the heat until the oXids are entirely taken up bythe oil and the required degreeof distillation has beenef- ,I raise the mixed IOO fected. This causes a partial saponi-fication of the`oil, and the more completelyfthis saponiflcation is effected the greater-thespeed with which the coating of the wire may'. sub- Sequesnbly. be effected. The are idity for application to the wire.

broken up and glycerin and other elements of the oil driven 0H. Care must be had, however, not to continue the operation too long, as an increase beyond a critical limit converts the mass into a semisolid which cannot readily be dissolved. I have found an application of the heat for ten to fifteen hours to yield satisfactory results. This stage of my process is very important, as when properly conducted it gets rid by distillation of glycerin and other compounds which prevent the film hardening and in this way permits a rapid hardening after the wire is coated. After the oxids are completely combined with the oil the heat is allowed to drop to from 500O to 5250 Fahrenheit, at which it is held, accompanied by constant stirring of the liquid compound, until the mass is somewhat stiff and elastic at a normal temperature of about 78C Fahrenheit. This may be simply tested by removing a small quantity of the product and dropping it upon a cold surface. When it acquires a good degree of stiffness, I add about twenty-five per cent. of a refractory solvent, such as rosin-oil, and allow it to cool. Other solvents, such as turpentine, may also be added to bring it to the proper degree of flu- This application is made by means of a grooved wheel traversed by the wire,.the bottom of which wheel dips in a bath composed of the compound suitably diluted in a solvent, as just I referred to, the conductor leaving the wheel at a tangent, which, as described in a prior patent to Clark and Rupley, No. 687,517, dated November 26, 1901, effects an evenlydistributed coating on the wire. The coated conductor is carried through an oven, being given a sufficient exposure to not only volatilize the solvent which diluted the compound and get rid of other compounds freed in the preliminary treatment, but to veffect a partial or fractional distillation of the hydrocarbon. or more exactly the carbohydrate produced from the oil by the preliminary treatment hereinabove described. The oven temperature may vary within considerable limits; but I have obtained the best results at a temperature of 4500 Fahrenheit and upward, fine wire being produced having an exceedingly tough coating, which under repeated sharp fiexure of the conductor does not crack or break at a temperature of from 500O to 550O Fahrenheit, while at 600O and upward the distillation is so severe that the resulting resid num on the wire becomes brittle. These limits are not absolute, as the saponification or decomposition of the earlier treatment and the more or less complete elimination of certain undesirable distillates at that stage varies the rapidity of action at any temperature and permits successful coating to be done at lower temperatures.

The process may go on simultaneously with the presence of air or not, as preferred. The

'air does not seem to be detrimental.

absence of air is not a disadvantage in the process of hardening my insulation, as I have produced satisfactory results 1n a neutral at- .mosphere-as, for example, in nitrogen or carbon dioxid or where the air has been pumped of. It would, however, be rather impracticable to attempt to entirely exclude air from the oven, and I have therefore not done so. Furthermore, a small quantity of The resulting product is a hard brilliant enamel with a color varying from brown to black, according to thickness. A thickness of three-fourths to one millimeter is jet black.

The process as herein described is easily distinguished from the common applications of oxidizing oils, such as linseed oil, wherein the oxygen of the air exercises a controlling effect by forming linoxin or oxidation products with the oil and rendering it hard and elastic. That process is too slow for commercial use, rendering the wire expensive.

The degree of heat allowed by my process produces distillation, breaking up to acertain extent the composition of the ordinary compound by drawing of the lighter hydrocarbons or carbohydrates, either or both, and leaving behind a residuum in which the proportion of carbon is considerably increased relatively to the ordinary compound, but which still has good insulating properties. This is particularly the case in the preliminary treatment; but this distillation does not go so far as destructive distillation ordinarily does, though the compound undergoes changes due to destructive action, for example, on the glycerids.

The preliminary treatment of the oil in which the saponification I have described takes place materially expedites the process by causing the glycerids to be broken up and the glycerin and fatty acids to be set free, while the addition of the metallic oxids causes the separation to take place at a lower temperature and in larger quantities than when the treatment is carried on without them. It should therefore be understood that the oxids are not essential to the successful preliminary treatment of the oil except in so far as they promote the speed at which the glycerids are broken up at the temperature used. An increase of temperature will bring about a similar result; but it is not considered expedient to carry on the process in air at a temperature above 600O Fahrenheit.

Any desired number of coatings may be superimposed, several at least being desirable in order to conceal faults and provide a waterproof insulation. It is desirable to provide multiple coats, as a thin lilm does not blister under expulsion of the distillates as a thicker one would. 'Moreover, the exposure of the compound in films permits a quicker and more effective removal of the glycerin in the form of acrolein, since the layers are thin.

The

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final coat may have any desirablecoloringmatter applied, thou-gh the coloring due to the' treatment of thecompound itself is a beautiful glossy black.

The temperatures I have specified are for commercial speeds of work. Of course somewhat lower temperatures might be employed by givinggreater time exposure, the distinctive feature of my process as compared with those heretoforev practiced consisting in the' change in the oil covering vas effected solely" 'or principally' by distillation of a'previouslythickened oil, the results" known to -me here'- tofore in this line having depended upon oxidation of commercial linseed-oil as the controllingv principle of hardening, and my product moreover consists not of linoxin'as sought and produced by former processes, but of a carbon compound produced by robbing the oil of 'glycerin andother combined-and vola- I tile components, which tend to renderfit soft or fluid.

- While I have specified in the preliminaryM treatment certain oXids, these are inno sense essential, as other materials which willeffect a partial saponilication of the oil or even a breaking up of the glycerids may be employed. As a thinning agent other materials than rosin-y oil may be employed-for example, Venice turpentine or other solvent having a high b oilingepoint. 1 Wire insulated as herein described with' stands a high heat without softening` or being otherwise injured Vin insulating properties, and as the coating is thin more copper ymay be! wound in a given space than usual. vIt is, more# over, a good diffuser of heat; and withstands charring better tha-n fibrous coverings of cotton or silk.

The-exact chemical composition of my insulation after it has been hardened on the conducto'r is difficult to determine,'on account of the endless variety of possible atomic arrange.- ments of the elements constituting it. It is evident, however, that glycerin having been eliminated in the preliminaryand in the final SVO hardening process the hardened insulation is composed vmainly of residues of fatty acids.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a heater, beneath which is arranged a burner 2.

' The products of combustion Amay lead from a pipe 3 into the oven. A blower`4; keeps a 4the process.

closed system for circulation of the hot gases, mainly carbon dioxid. I Prefer to arr'ange'it vertically, as a betterdis'tribution of the iame is thus produced. This oven is provided with dampers 6a, &c., at different vertical points,

which may be adjusted togage the heat. The Wire is led over a number of sheaves 7 7, 850.,

at the. top 'of the oven and carried over coating-sheaves 8 8a, &c., thelower ends of which dipinto abath of the compound which Iy have described. One of these coating-wheels may be provided with a bath containing coloringmattei` or a mixture of coloring-matter and insulating compound, as indicated at 9. The

wire is taken any desiredy number of times through the oven and may be given any desired number vof coats, being then led olf to a suitable'reel. The height of theoven, otherv things being equal, determines the speed ofl I have obtained excellent re. "sults with an oven twenty-five feet high.

' WhatIcIam as new, and desire to secure by Lettersv 4Patent of the United States, isl.A Y An electrical conductor provided with an insulating-coating of infusible residuum of de- 'structively-distilled oil.

. 2.4 An electrical conductor provided with an insulating-coating of infusible residuum of destructively-di'stilled vegetable oil.

' 3. An electrical conductor provided with an insulatinglcoating consisting of multiple films of destructively-distil-ledl residuum of vegetable oil. y

4. An electrical conductor having an insuof the residuum of distilled vegetable oil.

5. An insulated electrical conductor coated witha residuum of vegetablev oil whichhas been freed from glycerin. K

6L 'An insulated electric conductor having `a hardened coating' of residues of fatty acids.

lating-coating consisting of a baked solution Ico 7. An insulated electric conductor having a hard, thin, elastic skin composed of a distillateresiduum of'a thickened vegetable oil.

` ,8. An'insulated ele'ctric conductorhaving l a hard, thin, elastic skin composed of residuum of a thick distilled oil.

9. An insulated electric conductor having a baked a hard, thin, elastic. skin composed of a'residuum-of a baked :oil distillate.

10. An insulated electric'conductor having a hard, thin, elastic-skin composed of a baked l `film of destructivelyedistilled oil.

In witness whereof ,have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of January, 1904:.

GEORGE H. RUPLEY. Witnesses: BENJAMIN B. HULL, HELEN ORFORD'. 

